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Why is photos restoring from iCloud so dreadful?

It happens once or twice a year this 'restoring from iCloud' lark and I sit back and await some 4 weeks for it to become normal again and 'restored'. All I do is open a different photos library and then go back to the default one. Then the nightmare beings.


It doesn't happen every time but it happens enough for me to be depressed and disgusted. I see that it is a problem across the internet but Apple doesn't seem to care.


I have looked for alternatives and don't mind paying for them but none are as integrated with the Apple eco system and all my devices are Apple...


What a shame that Apple uses such an awful method that there is no control over... and all you see if the dreaded ....restoring from iCloud week after week until Apple deem you to be fixed.

Mac mini, macOS 13.2

Posted on Jan 21, 2023 4:24 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 21, 2023 5:11 AM

I am seeing "Restoring from iCloud", whenever my iCloud Photos Library needed to be repaired, but is happening only rarely and the restoring does not take very long, just a day or two, while I can continue to use Photos.


Since you seeing frequently the "restoring" notice, something must be causing your library to get corrupted over and over again. Frequent crashes could be using this or keeping your Photos Library on an external volume, that is not suitable for Photos Library. Where is your Photos Library stored? Is it in your Pictures folder or somewhere else?

You may also need to repair the library, if you access it from a different user account. Just switching back and forth between libraries should not cause a "restoring", only if Photos lost the connection to the System Photos Library for some reason, for example, if you dismounted the volume with your iCloud Photos Library.



2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 21, 2023 5:11 AM in response to austenlennon

I am seeing "Restoring from iCloud", whenever my iCloud Photos Library needed to be repaired, but is happening only rarely and the restoring does not take very long, just a day or two, while I can continue to use Photos.


Since you seeing frequently the "restoring" notice, something must be causing your library to get corrupted over and over again. Frequent crashes could be using this or keeping your Photos Library on an external volume, that is not suitable for Photos Library. Where is your Photos Library stored? Is it in your Pictures folder or somewhere else?

You may also need to repair the library, if you access it from a different user account. Just switching back and forth between libraries should not cause a "restoring", only if Photos lost the connection to the System Photos Library for some reason, for example, if you dismounted the volume with your iCloud Photos Library.



Why is photos restoring from iCloud so dreadful?

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